That would be (e:dragonlady7) . I can't say as I understand why that's any of your business, but I just wanted to get that out in the open, there. I have sex with women, and you can't change that about me.

This afternoon I skated in the Dyke March* with the Roller Girls. We had fun, but it was a bit grueling. We busted our asses to get to Kleinhan's by 11am only to stand around in skates for two hours. I still haven't properly broken in my skates so by the time we got to Bidwell my feet were killing me. I whipped off my skates at my earliest convenience and walked around in my socks the rest of the day.

Before the parade, one of the roller girls' girlfriends was talking about an encounter she'd had with a protester. The protester had worked himself into a holy fervor and she was pretty proud of her comeback, and I said gosh - it's good to know that everyone's having a good time. To some extent, I meant it- what fun is a gay pride parade without a little tête-à-tête with the fundies? But for the most part, it seemed that the few protesters there were, were pretty bored.

You know, there were probably more people in floats owned by churches than there were protesters. There were probably more grandmas & grandkids on the parade route than there were balls-to-the-wall sexual deviants. There's probably a commentary lurking in there somewhere, but gramma's gotta go soak her bunions.

- Z

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• I thought it was the Pride Parade too, but the No Parking signs that the police put up along the parade route clearly stated Dyke March. Who am I to question the government?

New music: "Gay/Not Gay" by King Missile III.

On April 12, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed the Open Government Act ... [which] would strengthen the federal Freedom of Information Act...

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a similar measure in March - but that bill was blocked from reaching the Senate floor for a May 24 vote because an unknown senator placed a secret hold on the bill.

A secret hold. On a bill that would help the public have greater access to public information. Think about that for a minute.

Well ok that's pretty fucked up, but the Society of Professional Journalists has come up with a quick and innovative way of weeding out the culprit

Now really - if you don't know how your elected, paid representatives are voting, how are you supposed to decide whether to continue electing and paying them?

- Z

So, for a while I had a high-concept idea for sneakers: Chuck Taylor rental bowling shoes. But the thing is, it would be extremely difficult to get them dyed right - red on one side, blue on the other, beige in the middle. Also, you can't take the shoe apart because the sole is melted on.

Enter Converse's latest marketing scheme: custom kicks . They actually have a pretty respectable number of designs to choose from [Hi-top and oxford Chucks in canvas, leather, and suede, extra hi-top Chucks and Jack Purcell in canvas and more]. Each panel can be a different color, and certain designs are part of (PRODUCT)RED .

And so, finally, I present to you: Dave's High Concept Chucks [allow 3-4 weeks for manufacture & delivery]:



UPDATED TO ADD: (e:twisted,36796)

- Z

We got any early adopters here? I'm putting together a little toy for work and I'd like some real preliminary feedback. Concept: all-local Internet radio - runs as a tiny window on your desktop while you're working & shows who's playing. Currently 137 songs, ~10hour playlist.

Known bugs:
- loading message doesn't show [you have to wait a couple minutes before it starts playing]
- volume slider doesn't work [use system volume]
- a number of the songs have f*d up ID3 tags [these won't show any info]
- the mysterious white box doesn't show ads yet
- pause/fast forward buttons don't exist
- a lot of the music is crap*ola

- Z

Ya so I started talking to B-52* on our trip about an idea i had a while ago (e:zobar,37324) and now it's bugging me, beacuse I'm totally convinced I'm a visionary genius. I've even given it a name that I think is quirky yet compelling: The Muckraker & Picayune.

The idea is, I'd start out with a cryptic classified ad in the paper [since I kind of get the five-finger discount here] and maybe craigslist that basically just says:

INTERESTING PEOPLE WANTED for new publication. www.* for info or mail submissions to *.

Submissions: limit one per issue, 8.5"x11", anything else goes. Then I'd collect the entries and get them printed up & distributed every full moon. [Not that that's really significant or relevant in any way, but 'Sturgeon Moon 2007' sounds cooler than 'v6n32.']

But here's why: the newspapers around here are for shit, present company included. A long time ago my paper had a real DIY feel, but now it's old and stodgy like NPR. The editorial at the Buffalo News is idiotic, and they'd be better off just reprinting the AP feed. The Beast, if they're still in business, is only in it for shock value. The guys at Buffalo Rising are political space cadets** and really, you can only be so elitist when you run a meet-your-merchant magazine. There's a new one called Block Club, and I wish them all the luck in the world but Buffalo Rising will not tolerate another meet-your-merchant in this city, and I doubt the public is really that interested in the private lives of potential future advertisers.

The Muckraker would at least be a fun & hopefully interesting diversion. At RIT there was an approximately similar publication which at one point enjoyed greater readership than the 'official' magazine. Only problem: how the Hell do you pay for something like this? I don't think it'll cost much, but it'll still cost something. You can't really sell advertising, because [theoretically] anybody can get anything printed in it for free. You can't really sell subscriptions, because you can get it free at the coffeeshop. Voluntary donations just don't work. Merch? An expanded edition for subscribers?

Any ideas? Any writers?

- Z

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• Well, if (e:dragonlady7) is B-17 then I guess that makes her younger sister B-29 and her next younger sister B-52. Makes sense to me.
  
• You want proof? In 2005, Newell donated $5000 to each mayoral campaign - Brown, Calvaneso, Einach, Flynn, even Jackson. Who the fuck does that?